Dish Sues Tribune Because It Called The Company 'Dishgusting'
from the self-inflicted-mortal-wound dept
For years now, consumers have been stuck in the middle of increasingly-ugly carriage fee disputes between broadcasters and cable companies. Usually they go something like this: a broadcaster demands a massive rate hike from cable companies to carry their channels. Cable TV providers balk, and the broadcaster pulls access to the channels in question until the cable provider pays up. Consumers not only lose access to content they're paying for (refunds are never provided), but they're also hammered by ads from both sides trying to get consumers to call and bitch at the other guy for being greedy.Fast forward a month or two, a new confidential deal is struck, and the rate hikes are immediately passed on to consumers. Yes, broadcasters are predominately at fault for demanding insane price hikes at a time when consumers are cutting the cord. But cable providers aren't faultless either. They quite frequently are broadcasters themselves (as with regional sports networks or Comcast NBC Universal), and when they aren't -- they're usually just as busy tacking on their own wide assortment of misleading fees and hardware charges.
In short, everybody in the chain is violently milking a dying cash cow, oblivious to the actual needs of the consumer.
Earlier this month Dish Network balked at a price hike demand from Tribune Broadcasting, resulting in Tribune pulling Dish customer access to 42 local Tribune channels in 33 markets across 34 states and the District of Columbia. That resulted in Tribune creating a salty new website accusing Dish of being a "regulatory profiteer" and urging Dish customers to switch to another pay TV provider -- pretty standard for these kinds of inane disputes. The website also makes some not-particularly-creative use of the Dish brand name, accusing the satellite TV provider of being "dishgusting" and "dishturbing":
"Tribune’s publication of the misleading and deceptive statements on its channels and these websites causes actual harm to DISH. Among other things, DISH’s subscribers flood DISH’s customer service lines with questions about the Tribune messages, some subscribers cancel their DISH subscriptions, and DISH’s goodwill as a reliable service provider is eroded. Tribune is therefore deliberately and purposefully interfering with DISH’s contracts with its subscribers as well as with DISH’s prospective economic advantage, both through current subscribers who terminate their agreement with DISH and through prospective subscribers who elect not to sign up for DISH services."To Dish's credit, they're one of the only pay TV providers standing up to broadcast rate hikes at a time when customers increasingly have made it clear they want cheaper, more flexible channel lineups. Also to their credit, Dish is one of the only companies with the guts to actively offer a product that makes this happen (Sling TV), despite the obvious risk of cannibalizing its own, more profitable legacy TV customer base. But Dish has been involved now in fifteen blackouts of this type in the last three years, and it's not doing much to slow down broadcaster rate hike demands.
And while broadcasters do deserve the lion's share of blame for these fights, the idea that anybody in the broadcaster cable TV chain actually cares about the customer is a stretch. No matter which side "wins" in these ugly public feuds, the consumer always loses. They lose access to content they pay for, never see refunds, and generally see rate hikes no matter what the final contract looks like. Cable TV providers then tack on some misleading below-the-line fees of their own (like the "broadcast TV" fee, or usage caps if they also offer broadband) to ensure they're not the ones footing the bill.
Ultimately, these fights only illustrate how the legacy pay TV sector is utterly tone deaf to consumer desire despite years of warnings on the wind. Cable TV executives see the giant meteor (cord cutting, streaming TV competition) coming, but they just think the best possible response to the looming cataclysm is a one-two punch of denial and speeding up the rate at which they gouge paying customers. These are dinosaurs drinking cocktails ahead of the disruption apocalypse.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: carriage fees, defamation, dishgusting, insults, transmission fees, tv
Companies: dish, tribune, tronc
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Slow, slow death
Meanwhile they are bleeding out very very slowly, but bleeding out none the less. They will probably get some intravenous blood along the way, but not enough and they will never repair the hole in their foot. So sad.
Small media sees opportunity and steps right in, carefully avoiding the pool of blood amassing. Hopefully!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
LPT: Monday mornings is when you should call
Call early on a Monday morning when the call centers have coupons to use.
Let them know your angst, that you're upset, et and give them a chance to use one of more of those coupons, from a premium service you don't have to reduced rates on some items or perhaps a no charge upgrade to the hopper - negotiate with the phone reps...
Monday mornings are the time to call if you want something back from your arrangement with Dish.
Just remember a phone rep is just an employee, they don't set company policy, their managers who you can/should ask to speak to will do everything to keep you as a customer. It's okay to ask for a manager to get more from Dish.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: LPT: Monday mornings is when you should call
get to retention, then make them beg. Their job is to save the account, your job is to make them work for it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Call and cancel
IANAL, so YMMV.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
(1) remove the offending content generator from all packages.
(2) Accept whatever rate is offered by the content generator....
(3) Subject to the proviso that it will be billed directly to customers who pay for the channels separately (with a _really_-small billing-service-charge markup, so the cable company can't be accused of gouging)
(3) Lower everyone's cable bills some (small) fraction of the original rate being paid--cable companies are congenitally incapable of not gouging someone, so gouge here while simultaneously lowering the bill.
It wouldn't be a _highly_ profitable deal for the cable company, but it would be an absolute assurance that no _other_ content provider would try the same trick.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The net effect is everyone bill goes up more and more people cut the cord, and they lose subscribers. I had my $50 a year Internet only service from Comcast. I was going to call them up and see about dropping it to 50Mbps which is fast enough for my use. After my year expired. It was cheaper to get their 75Mbps service, Plus either HBO or Showtime, a free cheapo cable box I still don't have hooked up, along with some basic channels and their StreamPix service or whatever it's called I've never used and now I'm paying like $45 a month. Really, Comcast is giving me free HBO, which is how I'm looking at it. I just use the HBOGo now app. The only lame thing is Comcast won't allow HBOGo on the Tivo!!! Works on my other devices though like AppleTV and ROKU. This is there way to try to keep people paying for TV service, I just could really care less.
The Antenna and Netflix is most of my watching. I don't even have time to watch much HBO but I get it. It was cheaper to get this bundle then Internet Only!!! I'm good for another year, and next year I'll see what new deal I can get to keep my cost at $50 a month or less.
The whole bundle thing really needs to go. As far as I'm concerned, have the Cable and Satellite company's charge by Channel. In fact, set the prices based on what they have to pay for them. So you would get freebies if you wanted like HSN. Maybe ESPN is $15, other channels could be 50 cents, $1, $5, maybe free because they want people to get it and watch the channel. They are making their money on commercials and the more viewers, the more money.
So if the Tribune (I've never heard of) want some huge increase, let them have it. Charge per user that wants it. If it goes up $10 for that channel, few people will get it, let alone pay for it. Some of these company's that have a number of channels, maybe they can bundle their channels for a lower cost if you got them all. Again, A-La-Cart!!!
One of the things that pissed me off was all these expensive sports channels I had to pay for that I NEVER watched. I don't care about ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNNews, Fox Sports, and all the others. Let the people that love sports pay for it. Why am I subsidizing it? There's enough sports on the broadcast channels for my needs.
As these prices keep being jacked up, more people will cut the cord and everyone, the cable/Satellite company's lose and the content providers. I can't get their channel with a antenna. Oh well. What I don't see I can't miss!!! They disappear!!! Who wins in the end?
The only thing I hate, is having to see these banners on Broadcast channels I pick up with my Antenna. I don't feel sorry for CBS or whoever that cuts the feed. At some point you have to play hardball and not cave, because look, one does it and request a huge fee increase and there's everyone else with their hands out also wanting a huge fee increase. I got tired of that game and CUT THE CORD, at least the best that I could with the cheapest option that made sense. The cable box they shipped me is still in that box! I'd have to run a new cable just to use it and I just could care less. My bill is a little cheaper and my Internet speed seems just as fast as always and I got a bonus of HBO thrown in.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No accusation there
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Dish It Up
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Dish It Up
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Trashy dish
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The blackouts over....but
[ link to this | view in chronology ]